News

Bloomberg: Bain Capital agrees to sell UK payroll software company Zellis, acquired in 2017, to Apax Partners; sources say the deal values Zellis at ~£1.25B  —  – Apax said to fund deal with £450 million private credit loan  — Zellis… Read More »Bain Capital agrees to sell UK payroll software company Zellis, acquired in 2017, to Apax Partners; sources say the deal values Zellis at ~£1.25B (Bloomberg)

Benjamin Sandofsky / Sandofsky: A look at the failure of Humane’s Ai Pin, which took six years to ship after raising $230M, including building the device “the Apple way” and raising too much  —  Why You Can’t Build Apple with… Read More »A look at the failure of Humane’s Ai Pin, which took six years to ship after raising $230M, including building the device “the Apple way” and raising too much (Benjamin Sandofsky/Sandofsky)

Bloomberg: Sources: in 2023, Abu Dhabi’s G42 and the US Commerce Department held talks that led to G42 agreeing to pare back its China presence to avoid punitive measures  —  – Agreement with US helped G42 preserve access to Nvidia… Read More »Sources: in 2023, Abu Dhabi’s G42 and the US Commerce Department held talks that led to G42 agreeing to pare back its China presence to avoid punitive measures (Bloomberg)

Kari Paul / The Guardian: A look at Neopets, a website launched in 1999 to let users care for virtual pets, including how the site survived multiple acquisitions and Flash’s phasing out  —  An icon of millennials’ childhoods languished for… Read More »A look at Neopets, a website launched in 1999 to let users care for virtual pets, including how the site survived multiple acquisitions and Flash’s phasing out (Kari Paul/The Guardian)

Julie Creswell / New York Times: Ghost kitchens and virtual restaurant brands, which boomed during the pandemic after raising billions, are disappearing due to overtaxed kitchens and complaints  —  Ghost kitchens and virtual brands became a way for idle restaurant… Read More »Ghost kitchens and virtual restaurant brands, which boomed during the pandemic after raising billions, are disappearing due to overtaxed kitchens and complaints (Julie Creswell/New York Times)

Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch: Mozilla and CheckFirst report: Apple, Google, Meta, and others’ efforts are a work in progress at best, months after EU’s DSA mandated a searchable ads library  —  Efforts by tech giants to be more transparent about… Read More »Mozilla and CheckFirst report: Apple, Google, Meta, and others’ efforts are a work in progress at best, months after EU’s DSA mandated a searchable ads library (Natasha Lomas/TechCrunch)

Times of India: Noida, India-based B2B e-commerce marketplace ProcMart raised a $30M Series B led by Fundamentum and Edelweiss Discovery Fund, after a $10M Series A in 2022  —  Bengaluru: ProcMart, an online B2B marketplace focused on supply chain solutions,… Read More »Noida, India-based B2B e-commerce marketplace ProcMart raised a $30M Series B led by Fundamentum and Edelweiss Discovery Fund, after a $10M Series A in 2022 (Times of India)

Anna Heim / TechCrunch: Berlin-based finmid, which makes embedded fintech solutions for SMBs, raised a €23M Series A at a €100M post money valuation, bringing total raised to €35M  —  Berlin-based finmid — one of the many startups building embedded… Read More »Berlin-based finmid, which makes embedded fintech solutions for SMBs, raised a €23M Series A at a €100M post money valuation, bringing total raised to €35M (Anna Heim/TechCrunch)

Financial Times: Microsoft invests $1.5B in Abu Dhabi-based AI group G42 for a minority stake, as G42 severed its ties with Chinese suppliers; Brad Smith will sit on G42’s board  —  Agreement is latest move by US tech group to… Read More »Microsoft invests $1.5B in Abu Dhabi-based AI group G42 for a minority stake, as G42 severed its ties with Chinese suppliers; Brad Smith will sit on G42’s board (Financial Times)

Saritha Rai / Bloomberg: Tel Aviv-based Bridgewise, which uses AI to provide investment analysis to brokerages, wealth advisors, and exchanges, raised a $21M Series A led by SIX Group  —  – Bridgewise uses AI to do research of global securities … Read More »Tel Aviv-based Bridgewise, which uses AI to provide investment analysis to brokerages, wealth advisors, and exchanges, raised a $21M Series A led by SIX Group (Saritha Rai/Bloomberg)